Motivational Speaker Blog

I love drama. When I listen to others, I usually become engaged when they introduce conflict or drama. Unlike gossip, drama entertains an inherently challenging personal situation, where a person is emotionally involved and must navigate through the conflict.

I was a motivational guest speaker for a group of insurance agents where the guest speaker before me literally put the audience to sleep. He could be a very dynamic and engaging speaker but from the outset I could tell he was going to bore us. These are the 3 clues that indicate a guest speaker will be boring:

One dimensional. A good motivational speech varies presentation style with humor, facts, analogy, demonstration, interaction, stories and more. A one dimentional style like standing stiffly at the front of the room and reciting facts or pointing at a PowerPoint will have people nodding off.

Irrelevant information. Sometimes when listening to a speech I wonder, why is this important? Obviously it is important to the guest speaker but why is it important to this audience? If a motivational guest speaker tells stories, they really have to be to the point and linked to the message (and the audience)or they are a waste of time, even if they are entertaining.

Too much information. Most guest speakers error on the side of including to much content. Audience are busy and distracted and will only take away one or two points anyways. Guest speakers should consider the one or two principals they want the audience to take away and build content around these.

I was recently a motivational keynote speaker for a teachers conference. The conference, run by a volunteer board, had neglected to inform its conference sponsors and exhibitors of key deadlines and important information. During the motivational speeches, the vendors were still setting up their booths, which was very distracting. The booths were lining the auditorium where all the keynote speakers presented for the teachers.

Below are some considerations for managing and communicating with conference sponsors:

Verify and communicate early on the resource commitments conference sponsors can anticipate. For example to host a trade show booth, identify what resources are needed for staffing, funding, equipment, travel, training, and any other expenses.

Communicate how best to set up a trade show booth, how to get the most out of a trade show space, how to engage conference delegates, how to collect and follow up with conference leads and more.

Any sponsorship will probably fail or have weak results if a sponsor fails to support it adequately. Discuss responsibilities and timelines before, during and after the event and get commitment for ongoing support from your conference sponsors.

Set timelines for shipping materials, equipment and communicate consequences of any delays.

I was a motivational speaker for a chamber of commerce event last week where the meeting planner expressed extreme frustration with trying to get Millenials ( basically younger professionals in their 20's to 30's) to come to events.

On November 7, 2012 I am an Motivational Speaker for Forum North Health & Safety Conference in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I am presenting the motivational speech, I Love My Job, it's the People I can't Stand!